One tonne of fish dead after dairy farmer protest

To draw attention to their plight during meetings of German agriculture officials, some 200 dairy farmers gathered in the eastern German state at the Helfta Abbey in Eisleben on Friday. In front of the abbey they intentionally disposed of some 14,000 litres of milk which flowed through the drainage system into the pond. This killed two-thirds of the 1.5 tonnes of fish caught by the fire brigade and other municipal workers who tried to save them by removing them.
The protest in Eisleben was part of a series of protests across Germany last week where more than 100,000 litres of milk were spilled onto fields and down gutters. The dairy farmers claim they get insufficient support from the EU, notwithstanding Agriculture Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel’s plan to give them a one-off payment and have countries buy up excess milk.

Source: http://www.thelocal.de/national/20090921-22059.html

Whenever an animal is exploited, this is due to their objectification. Seen as means to an end, to provide products or resources, rather than as sentient beings, their interest in life is disregarded by humans.

Animal Equality opposes the use of any animal, including cows enslaved for their milk. These cows are born with the sole objective of providing milk for human use, which they only produce if they give birth. Forcible impregnation is carried out each year and the calves are separated from their grieving mothers shortly after birth. Female calves may join the dairy herd but the unwanted males are either shot or briefly raised for veal before having their lives drastically cut short in the slaughterhouse. There are many and often healthier alternatives to cow's milk, such as oat, soy and rice milk.

Despite the numbers in which they are caught and the way they are regarded such as in the example above, fish are individuals with the capacity to experience pleasure or pain, as clearly confirmed by several scientific studies. According to Huntiford (2002) fish have senses for detecting stimulation of pain, and cerebral mechanisms which process the stimulation and provoke negative physical responses. As a result, their interests are just as important as those of any other animal – human or not.

Other animals deserve equal consideration and should in no way be oppressed, enslaved, tortured or killed for human benefit. We can easily choose not to take part in animal exploitation by going vegan.